2010.009 Contra Dance

There was a great turn out for this dance! This happened to be my favourite combination of caller and band… Bill Fischer and The Wild Notes. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten out to a contra dance, so I just couldn’t miss this one. Fortunately, my teenage kids love contra dance, and so do their friends, so we can usually rustle up a group to go together. This time there was a contra jam before the dance, which we also attended. I haven’t joined in on that yet, but hope to soon. But a friend who was with us brought his flute and played along. (I envy his sight reading skills!) How reassuring it is that people are still getting together to make music and dance. Professional musicians sitting with hobbyists of varying levels, on instruments that have been played together for centuries. It’s only natural, and it’s all good!

The photo is from my old standy camera, a Canon Powershot G3. For an old point and shoot, it also takes pretty good video, with decent sound. Here are a few from last night:

Never heard of contra dance? Here’s an attempt at a definition:
Click here to check it out.
And click here to watch a video showing instruction and dancing, also with The Wild Notes. That’s ‘yours, truly’ demonstrating the do-si-do!

If you’ve never been to a contra dance, just find one and go! Even if you would swear on a stack of bibles that you don’t dance, go anyway… if only for the live music for a very low price… and no alcohol. Once you’re there, you’ll find the energy infectious, and the dance easy to pick up if you choose to give it a whirl!

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